Welcome to Explore - The Adventure Travel Experts.Explore has been running small group responsible adventures for nearly 35 years so you can be confident that you are in safe hands. Browse to find out more about Explore, our staff, tour leaders and values.

The one stop shop for all things special. Keep up to date with our latest special offers, promotions and incentives. Sign up for our newsletter and be the first to hear about great new trips, competitions, special offers and other exclusive deals. Sign up now!

Choosing your perfect trip type.We offer just about every type of adventure imaginable. Explore with other like minded travellers on our organised group trips, alternatively try a private departure or talk to our tailormade team if you want more flexibility.

Explore the world with your family.Our Explore family adventure holidays are designed for families looking for a fun and memorable holiday, allowing you to explore exotic and unique destinations, with all of the logistics taken care of.

Tashkent Trips

Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan, an ancient Silk Road city that retains its role as a vital hub of commerce. The city began life many millennia ago, an unassuming oasis on the Chirchik river, gradually evolving through pre-Islamic times as a minor trade centre known as Chach. Subjugated by Arab invaders in the 8th century, it converted to Islam and flourished. Like other cities in the region, it was virtually obliterated in the Mongol invasion of 1219, reviving later under the Timurid Empire. In 1966, the city was levelled by a powerful earthquake and rebuilt in stark Soviet style, its daunting residential towers contrasting with more ancient structures like medieval mosques and madrasahs.

Tashkent’s Old Town contains the city’s greatest concentration of historic buildings, the best quarter for strolling and getting a sense of the city at its height. Built in the 16th century by scientist and poet Kulbobo Kukeldash, the Kukeldesh Madrasah features a stunning inner courtyard and mosque, its academy once renowned as one of the finest in Central Asia. The Tellya Sheikh Mosque holds deep cultural and spiritual significance too, thanks to its sumptuous Islamic library, home to the world’s oldest Koran, which is stained with the blood of murdered caliph, Uthman. For a glimpse of mercantile barter and bustle, head to the Chorsu Bazaar, a very old city market that harks back to the days of the Silk Road. Its vociferous vendors peddle everything from spices to grains to textiles to produce to livestock.

Russian influence has been particularly marked in Tashkent since the 19th century, when the city was occupied by the Russians and transformed into the capital of Russia’s Turkistan satrapy. The Alisher Navoi Opera and Ballet Theatre, built by Aleksey Shchusev, who famously designed Lenin’s tomb in Moscow, continues to host Russian ballet and opera, its architecture signifying the apex of European cultural influence in Tashkent. Today, Russian is still widely spoken throughout the city, but a slew of new skyscrapers, night-clubs, and shopping malls evidence a recent embrace of western cultural imports. As such, Tashkent is the most cosmopolitan and forward-looking destination in the country.